Shaft sinking apparatus



Dec. 20, 1949 P. A. RIDDELL SHAFT SINKING APPARATUS 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 17, 1948 f/VVENTOE. 5y Wm! mm mm Dec. 20, 1949 Filed Feb. l7, l948 P. A. RIDDELL SHAFT SINKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5y Wm M KM girders with Patented Dec. 20. 1949 S TATES FF I C E 2,491,583 SINK NGAP ARA U$ 2Baul Alexander Riddell, floughtqm M ioh, eprli atmpreb u 1' 948. s a ass; '3 Claims. (Cl. g14-.- 115) apparatu f r ei larly to s b ine milie aha arenas wh n i lizin m ans flier .su h operation.

Sinking of mine shaftshas always'peen a costly, la i s t me cons min 1 Ea m s QI sinlsiiianiinesheits r uired a large n mber o me a e $811. n sm l r ups. we Dfinding 9n thegiz llfibottom or floor o the sha end a lrrhev l t loos d earth herein nto a sta e trink t w ehreo d h lq s eed earth to the e trance .Of t shaft to .becarried away. Thefat.igue ofshovelm br nq in he lease d un veaend t c d bo tom at Sta -..,.es .i ate th i qlient relieving of crews gagedin-such work. Later themanual shoy I operatign was repl b pa n-d iven excavati g ana rams which nabled-this aperat oet e d ne wit a considerable saving. in, timeanpt manpower, all ,as di d n, or .Retent N9- .3, fi.172. d ed August 10,, 1943 issnegto, Joseph Murray Riddell. Because of thelirn-i d cross-sectionalarea of the sha itwas sentia that he ems tine paratus be ofasrnaller .crossesectional area, cornpact, and portable. It, hasvfbeen fonnd preferable t a e sucheep ratus a p n ed within h shaft from the shaft-.snpporting, girders. 7 How:-

e e it a b en a ndth t during operation e suspended apparatus may sway andAor, I ciency. Thus roneoitheflobjects of. this in-,

vention to provide a, stahi li z ing means which will av a t nden y o te, ,thereby. reducing, its fifflr m n t a ing. t th ap ra uaw le in oneration andth e required forsinlgi agn'neshaft Itis-a furthepo. e t-of: hi a stabilizing mea t n in x n ve t n a ilna iuatahlebr. n

ha nqe i i .a ab e swil th fo l win de c on. he accompany ng dr win -te d the-a p nded In accordance with one embodirperrtof, this in:

intention .to provide yention a frame-is..providedoishchsize as to 45 ailow it to be as ded im va lc abputthe plat" r r wh h is suspended an excavatingshgyehcontrolledand operated irorntheplatforrh. Restin on the floor of the shaf i ,a h ista b by material reduc th m 35 ments which, after'the'framehasbeen suspended in theshaft at adesired positionare brought into contact with the adjacent shaftwalls and locked in place. Thus, whenthe excavating apparatus is 5 inbperation, the supportingframe is held in a stationary position, thereby enabling the excavating operation to be accomplished without attendant swaying-of the-frame.

For a more complete understanding of this invention reference should no'w be hadto the drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the bottom portion of ashait with two of the shaft walls removed so astoexpqse a suspended excavating apparatus, with the stabilizing elerhents being shown extended outwardly from' the frame to the shaftwalls Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the '20 frame of the apparatus shown; inFig. 1, with the the corner shown in Fig.4 with portions being cut away showing the guide and locking nut for the stabilizing element; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentarysideelevational view of one stabilizing element.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. ll an excavating apparatus iii is provided which is adaptled to be suspended within shaft l2 from shait 'suppgrting girders M. Four L-shaped supporting hooks lii ionly one being shown in Bi git) engageithegirders M at their up r end a d are 91 ea ed Praw smetallic s or in see .lm a. r spe n g me .n' mber 9 -'slh 1. 99 2 32' i w ic en sefremwi PQ PPa eW W, is ar cular ns anc the l' t 24 W rec an ule sh p e enti a e uall th a ripheral contouras a horizontal section of the shaft l bu s mewhat, sma r t p rmit o r a v rtic edius mle te nam w s w i s ra elle l a -h ng +28 Loadbearin m mne'tht an' l adnd. are mann at l l ep mnriws wo. memb r 5:85am hers 2 audit areQo f greate bea ng memb rs. and, 2

their end portions QB- 30 raider-'32 on and above bearing members 25 and 26, also at their respective end. portions 33-34 and 35-36.

Resting on hearing members 2! and 28 is a rectangularly shaped platform 38. The platform is provided with motor-driven wheels (not shown) so that it can be moved as desired over said frame. Suspended from platform 38 by cables 49 to the floor 42 of the shaft I2 is an excavating shovel 44 which is operated so as to grip loosened earth between its jaws 46 and 41 and deposit said earth 45 into a hoistable bucket 48 which rests on the floor 42 of the shaft. After the bucket 49 is loaded with the loosened earth and the platform 38 moved to one end of the frame 24, the bucket is hoisted by cable 49 between load bearing members 21 and 28 to the top of the shaft, not shown, and removed therefrom. Control and power means 59 for operating shovel 44 and moving the platform 33 are mounted on the platform. As thus far described,

the device is similar to that disclosed and claimed I which, when extended and locked, contact the adjacent walls of shaft I2 and hold the frame 24 in a rigid position. The description to follow will be directed specifically to the construction of the load bearing members which make up the frame of the apparatus and the manner of mounting the extensible elements with the load bearing members.

Load bearing member 28 shown in Fig. 3 comprises a pipe member 62, having open ends 54 and 69, a rail member 98 being of substantially the same length as pipe member 62 and mounted by welded round rods 19 or any other suitable means on the upper side of said member 62, a V- shaped channel member I2 mounted by welding or any other suitable means on the underside of said member 92, and a stiffening rod (not shown in Fig. 3) between the pipe member 62 and the channel member 12. The V-shaped channel member 12 and the stiffening rod are shorter in length than pipe member 62 and are positioned between the end portions 3| and 32 adjacent which the load bearing member 28 is attached to load bearing members 25 and 26 by welded round rods 14. Recessed from the ends 64 and 66 of load bearing member 29 on rail member 69 are welded stops I6 and i8 which limit the movement of platform 38 along said rail member.

A guide ring 89 is secured within the pipe 62 adjacent the end 66 thereof which serves as a guide for the stabilizing element 54, which latter extends outwardly in a telescopic manner from said open end 95. The stabilizing element 54 is slidable within the central aperture of the guide ring 89. A locking bolt 82 extends through rail member 53 and pipe member 62 and is threaded through guide ring 89 placed within pipe member 92. Thus the locking bolt may be tightened to firmly clamp the stabilizing element in any desired extended position. A like arrangement is employed for guiding and locking stabilizing elements 52, 53, 55, 5B, 51 and 53 in the opposite ends of bearing members 21, 28, 25, and 29 respectively.

Channel member 12 (and the corresponding channel members on the other load bearing members) has a two-fold purpose, namely to give added strength to pipe member 92 and to protect the pipe member by serving as a deflecting plate forrocks which may be thrown upwardly and strike the frame during blasting at the bottom of the shaft.

Load bearing members 25 and 26 are similar in construction to load bearing members 21 and 28 but are shorter, in the embodiment here being described. As shown in Fig. 5, load bearing member 29 comprises a pipe member 84 having an open end 99, a V-shaped channel member 88 welded at 89 to the underside of pipe 84, a stiffening rod 99 placed at the underside of pipe member 84 between channel member 88 and said pipe member, a corner tie plate 92 attached to the upper side of said pipe member at the end portion 35 by welded round rods 94, and a rail member 99 welded to the upper side of said pipe member between said end portions 35 and 39. The corner tie plate 92 serves as a flat base for mounting the end portion 32 of load bearing member 28 thereon. Welded round rods 14, above mentioned, connect pipe member 62 to corner plate 92. Bolts 93 and 99 act as further means for securing corner plate 92 to pipe member 84. The same arrangement is followed for connecting the hearing members 25, 26, 21 and 28 at the other three corners of the frame 24.

At four points as shown in Fig. l, V-shaped hooks 29, 2I, 22 and 23 engage V-shaped channel member 38 of bearing member 26 and a similar V-shaped channel member I99 for bearing member 25. Each hook, as shown in Fig. 3, may be secured to channel members. 88 and I99 by means of securing bolts I92, which extend through said hooks and are threaded into said channels. As shown in Fig. 4. threaded holes I94 are provided in the channels for receiving the securing bolts (not there shown) for anchoring the hooks to said channels.

A guide ring I96, similar to guide ring 89 above described, is placed within pipe member 84 as shown in Fig. 5, and is held in place by locking bolt I98, which latter also locks stabilizing element 58 in any desired extended or retracted position. Guide ring I99 in conjunction with a collar plate I99 welded or otherwise secured to the inner end III! of the shank portion III of stabilizing element 58, prevents wobbling of the element 58 when it is extended and contacting the shaft wall. Collar plate I99 slidably engages the inner wall. surface I I2 of pipe member 84. In order to enable the operator A or B to pull the stabilizing element 59 outwardly when it is in a fully retracted position, as shown in Fig. 3, a crossbar II3 extending diametrically across the outer end H4 of shank III is provided which serves as a handle. After the stabilizing element has been pulled far enough from the pipe member so as to expose a portion of the shank H I of said element by pulling the crossbar I I3, the stabilizing element may be further extended by the operator grasping the shank III by hand and pulling the element outwardly until the end H4 contacts the wall of the shaft. Once the frame 24 has been centered in the shaft, the stabilizing elements are held in place by locking bolts I98 as shown in Fig. 5.

As a protection from falling objects foroperators A and B who operate and control the excavating shovel 44 from platform 38, a cover I I6 is provided which is attached to the platform 38 by posts H8 at the four corners.

It will be obvious that certain modifications of the specific embodiments shown may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of this invention. For example, in certain instances where the shaft is' other than of rectangular shape it may be more desirable for the frame to be square, hexagonal, or octagonal in shape, in order to more closely adhere to the contour of the shaft to be sunk.

Thus it will be seen that stabilizing means associated with the support frame have been provided which will eliminate swaying of the excavating apparatus while in operation thereby greatly increasing the effectiveness of such operation. The stabilizing means provided is simple in construction, inexpensive to produce, and adapted to be easily and quickly adjusted by the operators. Likewise means have been provided for limited adjustment of the frame in the shaft along a horizontal plane.

While one embodiment of this invention is shown above, it will be understood of course that the invention is not to be limited thereto, since many other modifications may be made, and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for sinking mine shafts, comprising a rectangular-shaped frame member suspended within said shaft from shaft wall supporting girders, said frame comprising two pairs of hollow load bearing members with open ends, one pair mounted on and above the other pair; a platform mounted on said pair of load bearing members disposed above the other and adapted to move in an endwise direction along said members, an excavating shovel suspended from said platform, power means mounted on said platform for operating said shovel, and adjustable stabilizing elements protruding outwardly from the open ends of said hollow load bearing members and contacting the adjacent walls of said shaft.

2. An apparatus for sinking mine shafts, comprising a rectangular-shaped frame member suspended within said shaft from shaft wall supporting girders, said frame comprising two pairs of hollow, load bearing members with open ends,

the longer pair mounted on and above the shorter pair; a platform mounted on said longer pair of load bearing members and adapted to move lengthwise on said members, an excavating shovel suspended from said platform, power means mounted on said platform for operating said shovel, and adjustable, telescopic, stabilizing elements adapted to be extended outwardly from the open ends of said load bearing members and contact the adjacent walls of said shaft.

3. An apparatus for sinking mine shafts, comprising a rectangular-shaped frame member suspended within said shaft from shaft wall supporting girders, a platform mounted on said frame and adapted to move transversely across said frame, an excavating shovel suspended from said platform, control means mounted on said platform for operating said shovel, and adjustable stabilizing elements protruding outwardly from said frame and contacting the adjacent walls of said shaft, said stabilizing elements comprising a pipe section of such size as to loosely fit within the open end of said hollow load bearing member, an enlarged head section rigidly affixed to the inner end of said pipe and slidably engaging the inher surface of said bearing member, and a guide member rigidly mounted within said load bearing member for said pipe section to extend therethrough and a locking bolt to hold said stabilizing element in its extended position.

PAUL ALEXANDER. RIDDELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,326,172 Riddell Aug. 10, 1943 2,421,379 Harding June 3, 1947 2,426,591 Boskovich Sept. 2, 1947 2,440,501 Erickson Apr. 2'7, 1948 

